I am well-prepared… at least I think I am. In Japan, getting an epirdural is not common (only 3% of all the birth), I had to find something to make feel better!:-0Here are my two omamori or lucky charms. They are especially made and sold to wish a pregnant women a safe birth. I bought the red at the Kyomizudera in Kyoto last May and the pink was kindly given to me by my friend Mika. She had bought it at a shrine on Awaji Island nearby Kobe.

It is an amulet usually covered by a piece of cloth. It encloses pieces of wood or paper with prayers written on them which are supposed to bring good luck to the bearer on particular occasions, tasks or ordeals. An omamori is also used to ward off bad luck and is often spotted on bags, hung on cellphone straps, in cars, etc. It’s forbidden to open your omomori or all the “powers” will escape. It’s too bad sometimes I really wonder what is inside!

So instead of buying more Japanese sweets, this time, I received a class to go and make my own in Kyoto for my Bd. Sam had made a reservation at the Kyoto Japanese sweet store Kanshundo. The class was fun and very well organized and not too hard to follow even if the prep explanations were in Japanese only. We received a page with explanations in English. The class was full, around 30 people, with mostly women but also a few couragous guys that were on dates with their girlfriends. It lasted for 1h30 and cost Y2000 (about $25).

We made 4 style of sweets called Kyogashi ( Kyoto-style wagashi). We took 2 with us in a little box, ate 1 with a delicious matcha tea and took the last one even if I think we were not supposed to (oups…) It was fun to make, the main ingredients are more or less the same but the shapes and colors change with the seasons.

We made the sweets on the pictures below. It was not easy to shape the different doughs into different kinds of flowers or fruits. We did our best, anyway, the green one is a “ume-no-sei” or green plum. It’s a very highly seasonal fruit that you can buy to make your own pickels out them. The center of the sweet is made out of a ball of red bean paste , covered with a dough of sugar rice powder et kudzu flour (Japanese vign). The dough is then steamed and molded at room temperature. The next sweet is an “ajisai” or hydrangea. This one was fun to make! We had to use a bamboo strainer to get the little slices of colored bean paste that we topped onto a ball of read bean paste.

Here are the two last sweets we made. The small white and blue fishes are Ayu or sweet fish. They are made froma mix of raw sugar and glutinous rice paste.The dough was ready so we just had to cut it with a cookie cutter. They are supposed to dry for 3 months before being eaten (who wants to wait that long). They become crispy and crumbly.

The last sweet is the nadeshiko or Large Pink, made from a ball of white bean paste, topped with a steamed dough of rice flour and bean paste. We had to use a bamboo triangular spatula to give the shape.

Here we go, now we know how to make wagashi but it’s too difficult to make at home I think. It was a great experience and if by chance you are in Kyoto, don’t hesitate go to their website and try for yourself!

You simply have to go to Kyoto and especially to the Kyomizudera temple. There, take a little paper shaped as a doll and pay 200 yens (2,5$), write your problems on it. Then, imerge the little angel in the bamboo tub next to it. According the legend, your problems will disappear with the words you wrote on the little piece of paper. Incredible, no!

Here we are! Our first Spring outing. We went to Kyoto to the Kita Tenmangu shrine to see the first plum blossoms of the year. Spring is coming! Kita Tenmangu shrine is located in the North West part of Kyoto (easily reachable by bus number 50 from Kyoto Station). The shrine is well known for its plum trees but also for its flea market. It’s held every 25 of the month and has a lot of antiques, second hand kimonos and obi, food vendors and a small food market. When we went, there was a special tea ceremony performed by maikos and geisha from the Gion neighborhood. If you are up to it, you will have to wait in line for about 1 hour and pay $20. We didn’t do it but we did see a few geisha faces (from far)! Of course, it was crowded, even though it was a week day!!